Insulating compound for electeioal conductoes and appaeatus



(No Model.) J INSULATING COMPOUND FOR E L B. HYDE BOT RIGAL dONDUGTORS AND APPARATUS FOR OO NDING AND APPLYING THE SAME.

Patented July 24,. 1883 WWI/4 I w T M V Q M W u f 10 i F WITJVESSES UNITED STATES J. BUBROWS HYDE,

APPLYING PATENT OFFICE.

OF NEW YORK, N. Y.

THE SAME.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 281,999, dated July 24, 1883.

Application filed Muyfl, 1883. (So model.) a

To all whom it may concern Be it known that I-,-J. BURROWS HYDE, a

citizen of the United States, residing at New areevolved as vapors and condensed as fluids,

and so remain unless again heated, whereas other of the products from the distillation are more or less plastic; and, finally, a residuum is left in the distilling-vessel that closely resembles black glass fromits color and'luster, which,

together with its fracture, closely resembles I what is sometimes called mineral asphab' tum, and for convenience has been called obsidian. Most of the distillates from pctroleum' have been employed for insulating electric wires by mixing thehard with the fluid product, tic residuums; The obsidian itself, being a good non-conductor, must necessarily be softened either by the plastics or fluids to make the compound adhesive and pliable for coating wires.

- Hitherto a has been the distillates only of petroleum that have been compounded for non-conducting uses, whereas my improvement is found equally efficient, far more economical, and. under most conditions most convenient; and it consists in combining the obsidian, orblack residuum,with petroleumitself, instead of with any one or more of its distillates, whether fluid, plastic, or otherwise, when cold, and for which combination of said ingredients,'as also for applying the compound to the wires, I employ peculiar apparatus, which also form a part for Letters Patent. (See drawings.)

Figure 1 represents a sectional tion of the mixing apparatus. a shows the heating-furnace, of iron or masonry, with feeding-door at b, thechimney being placed at any convenient locality, under ground 'or other- -and also with the softer or plasof this my application veItical eleva-L wise, and not shown in the drawings. 0 represents the smelting-kettle, fixed firmly and suspended in the furnace. (1 shows an apron under the bottom of the kettle to screen it from intense heat. Around the exterior of c, and near its top, a channelis made for a waterseal, but in which I prefer to employ melted metal, as lead and bismuth; but water saturated with a salt or other mattermay be used. f shows asealing'vessel or vapor-holder seated into the channel 0, having adjustable pressurep j, in dotted lines, are loop-handles on opposite sides of f to facilitate lifting it to and from its position. h shows a vertical pipe inside of and extending above the top of a into the vapor-chamber, then,.by' vertical and horizontal direction, downward and through the side of 0,

a, and having in its train a stop cock, as

shown, a second pipe, t, commencing with a goose-nee] top'of a.

through the side of c, and then upward, terminating in a charging-vessel, k, into the top of whichv a funnel is fixed. Stop-cocks are shown in the train above and below this vessel k. Inoperating this apparatus I proceed asfollows: In the vessel 0, I place five to ten pounds of obsidian, or hard residuum from petroleum distillation, broken into about egg size, with about an equal bulk of crude petroleum, havingfilled c with a strong solution of salt and water, which is to be drawn-off and substituted by the melted metal when too hot.-

Now start the fire and open the cock in h. The

the furnace and burn there as fuel to heat the kettle. Meantime the charging-vessel should be filled with petroleum. If the volume of vapor shall exceed the relieving capacity of the pipe h (it will be shown by the action of the holder f) at any time, the oil-flow from k should be shut off, and the escape-valve in f be opened. When the vapors of the first charge slacken or cease to flow, the sealing-vessel may be removed and the contents .tle be incorporated by stirring. Then add a second charge of obsidian, as before, stirring it. with the charge as melted, replace the vesself and turn on the oil in k gradually,

weights upon its top and also a weightedv'alve.

and terminating within the furnacevapors from the oil will escape by the pipe into..-

in the ket-.

and

bend, also wlthin and: near the v This also passes downward and be of a tenacitythat will not stickto the fintion of heated fluid the composition may be ing up, or may be passed through a coolingshield or apron, n, to I protect its bottom from .leyszr being arranged for easy removal from repeat as before, until the vessel 1; is about three-fourths filled. The composition should gers when it is cold, and it should be soft to retain the impress of the finger and thumb when pinched, the proportions being changed to meet those conditions according to the temperature-of the external air. In this condi-' ladled from the vessel 0 into the molding kettle or apparatus; but a quantity suflicient to cover the bottom to a depth of not less than three or four inches should be left in the melting-kettle e to facilitate treating subsequent charges. V

Fig. 2 represents a vertical section of the molding apparatus, consisting, as in Fig. 1, of a kettle or tank, of iron, I, suspended and fixed in a furnace, m, having aprotecting intense heat. In operating this apparatus the vessel-Z is kept about three-fourths full of the mixture from c, Fig. 1. 0 shows a reel, placed in brackets to rotate easily, 'and holding threadcovered wire 10, that should pass readily through a uniform gage, which wire is passed around a wheel, 1, at the bottom of l. Thence the wire passes upward and over a second pulley, s, at the top of the tank Z; thence through a thin perforated plate, it, to strip 011' the excess of retained composition, the plate being fixed to a projecting apron, u. Thence the wire passes through a conically-perforated gaging-die, u, alsofixed to u, from which it is coiled around a storing-reel'placed atany proper distance, to insure coolingof the composition before windchamber. The tank lis'flat-sidcd, and made oblong to'use several distinct sets of the coating-fixtures, placed nearly side by side on the same shaft,,the different pulleys and reels having common rods on which they rotate, the pulthe tank, with their attachments, the sustaining shaft or rod having bearings at its ends in a slottedplate fixed vertically on the ends in-- side the tank I, as shown by dotted lines. The

wheel 0', being of thickness sufficient for a groove for the wire to pass at least twice around it, has its outer edges slightly flaredoutward, v

cally-perforated metal blocks y and z, in reverse'direction, to allowthe wireto pass down and up, as shown, and induce-more complete saturation of the thread-coating to'the wire. In working, the tank l should be kept about three-fourthsfull of heated composition. It follows that the wheel 7, with its attachment, will be constantly immersed in the composition while in a heated fluid state. What I claim, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is Y 1. An insulating compound for electric uses, composed of the hard bituminous residuum from petroleum-distillation, melted and 00111- bined with natural petroleum or mineral oil, substantially as and for the purpose set forth.

2. An insulating compound for covering telegraph or telephone wires, composed of petroleum or'mineral oils combined, under heat,

in a closed vessel, with the bituminous residuuins aggregated from distilling petroleum, substantially as described. I

3. In the process of combining the residuums of petroleum, as described, with crude petroleum, the melting and. mixing vessel 0, combined with the sealing-cover f, h 'i, and charger k, with their respective attachments, when constructed and arranged in the manner and for the purpose substantially as set forth. p, r 4. In the process of coating fiber-covered wire for electrical uses with the non-conducting composition described, the described apparatus, consisting of the tank Z, with its submerged-wheel 1, attached arms and cones i 2, in combination with the strip-plate p, gage cone '0, and reels 0 1", when. .constructed, arranged, and operated substantially as and for the purpose described.

In testimony whereof I aflix my signature in presence of .two witnesses.

a J I BURRQWS HYDE.

Witnesses: l

J. H. -HARRIS, S. C. WALKER. 7

seal e, pipes- .as shown at Fig. 3, the boss being thickened 

